Discussion Abstract:
What does “development” sound like across generations? How do young people narrate development from the ground up?
Suara ((( Pembangunan ))) (Malay language, stylised to mean “Voices of Development”) is a participatory oral history and sonic project with young people to document the generational legacies of national development in Malaysia from the grassroots. Malaysia is an upper-middle-income country guided by a strong developmental state. Through collaboration with Pusat Sejarah Rakyat (The People’s History Centre) in Malaysia, an interactive workshop was conducted with six young people from varying backgrounds, involving hands-on training in oral history documentation and sound practice, followed by intergenerational interviews to explore the legacies of national development manifested through their families and communities. This is followed by production of creative, multilingual “audio essays” by the young people for public dissemination.
Through the conversation, the project coordinators, Dr. Aizuddin Anuar and Zikri Rahman, reflect on how young Malaysians explore the lived stories behind national development through intergenerational voices, memories, and sound. The session was moderated by Dr. Por Heong Hong.
Presenter Bios:
Aizuddin Anuar is Assistant Professor at the Academy of Future Education, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. As a scholar of comparative and international education, he is interested in various themes under the umbrella of education and inter/national development. Aizuddin received his DPhil in Education from the University of Oxford, where he was a Clarendon Scholar and Doctoral Teaching Fellow. His first book, Postcolonial Education and Development in Peripheral Malaysia: Building Scientific Aspirations is forthcoming in September 2026, from Bristol University Press.
Zikri Rahman is the Program Coordinator with Pusat Sejarah Rakyat, an independent archival research and documentation focusing on Malaysia and Singapore’s people’s history. Zikri is also a writer, translator, independent researcher and curator with an MA in Social Research and Cultural Studies from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan. Through multiple projects and selected publications, he dwells into oral history of Malaysia’s protest movements, critical pedagogy, art and cultural movement / intervention, regional based censorship documentation to the networks of theater practitioners in the inter-Asian context. His works can be accessed on zikrirahman.xyz
Moderator’s Bio:
Por Heong Hong is an academic at the School of Social Science, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her research explores the intersection of health, welfare, medicine, nationalism, modernity and politics of body. In recent years, Por has expanded her research to include politics of heritage and memory, investigating socio-political and cultural dynamics from both historical and contemporary perspectives.
Suara ((( Pembangunan ))) can be accessed HERE.
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This webinar is part of Siri Seminar Akademik PPSK 2026. It was co-organised with the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Pusat Sejarah Rakyat.